Watch: ex-para confronts wristband sellers

Kelvin Stuttard

A video of an ex-paratrooper challenging men from Blackpool selling wristbands for a military cause has gone viral.

The ex-serviceman, who served with the Parachute Regiment in Iraq and Afghanistan, spotted the lads dressed in camouflage, collecting coins in a bucket in Nottingham city centre.

Shane Hartley (left)

In a video shared on Facebook, he challenged them with questions about their military history, IDs and charity permits. The ex-soldier filmed the angry exchange on his phone and posted it online, where it has been widely shared.

The men were asking for £3 to £5 for blue wristbands for “Invicted”, which the ex-para says is a play on words of Prince Harry’s Invictus charity.

Shane Hartley from Blackpool, seen in the video wearing black gloves and with light brown hair, said he had been a serving soldier but left six weeks ago.

Speaking after the confrontation, he said: “I’m not in the army anymore.

“We’re not a charity. We’re just trying to help people at Christmas but people want to know about how much money we’re earning like we’re some kind of millionaires.

“We’re putting homeless people in a hotel over Christmas.”

Invicted hit back at the viral video by posting photos on their Facebook page of homeless people enjoying a stay in a Blackpool hotel, thanks to money they had raised.

Mr Hartley also posted: “OK, had a little bit of stick about helping homeless, seems a lot of people have a hard time realising that a couple of lads from Blackpool can do good in the world. Gaz Linton, we are all over Facebook because we have used our heads and are good at something... if you hear anything bad I ask for you not to judge but to ask me first.”